The MTC has more than 700 new buses plying on the city roads and suburbs. The newly introduced Red buses are the rage as they are getting a positive response from the commuters because of better space and facilities such as music players.
The Red buses can be seen plying on the roads mainly on the Information Technology corridor, and from important bus termini like Ambattur Industrial Estate, Thiruvanmiyur, Velachery, T. Nagar and Tambaram. All high income routes for the MTC. “We are operating the Red buses mainly on the routes where a large number of Deluxe buses were operated,” said an official. Though commuters welcome the Red buses, they have a grievance that the MTC operates them only as Deluxe service where the fare ranges from ₹12 to ₹48. The MTC does not operate the Red buses even under Express services whose fares range between ₹8 and ₹35.
Sukumar, a resident of Ashok Nagar, said normally the fare for travelling in Red buses are almost double the fare of Ordinary buses.
A senior official of MTC said at present a majority of the new buses are operated as Deluxe buses with a few buses as Express services. No Red buses are operated in the Ordinary fare category, he admitted.